


Shard of Hope

by tatersalad5001



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: (we use dub names here and i'm so so sorry about zexal), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Gen, implied astral
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:34:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21696274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatersalad5001/pseuds/tatersalad5001
Summary: Yusei had looked towards the future for as long as he could remember. From the moment he was old enough to pick up a card, he'd dreamed of a better life. And now, in the Divine Temple, Yusei was forced to face a future of ruin and death and destruction. That couldn't be allowed to happen. He couldn't accept such a loss in the name of the greater good.There must be another way. Yusei could feel the six Signer marks gather on his back. One moment, as Yusei drove, he could hear his friends behind him. Then the Crimson Dragon roared, and they were all gone.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This one's dedicated to the [No One in Yugioh is Straight](https://discord.gg/NFV9fDZ) server on discord, and all the discussion that lead my hands to just kinda...start typing this. Oops? But special thanks to yall for everything. If you're reading this and you're not part of the server, you're super free to join. It's a chill yugioh environment and everyone's been super cool.
> 
> This is a sort of...Yusei time-hopping AU type of thing. He's gonna be hopping around in Zexal, Arc V, and Vrains. I'm not really sure how long this is gonna be, I don't have a super solid idea of where I'm taking this, I just have some vague ideas. It's gonna be an adventure. A road trip! Through time! With our pal Yusei.
> 
> Anyway, if you're sticking around, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy it!

Yusei had looked towards the future for as long as he could remember.

From the moment he was old enough to pick up a card, he'd dreamed of a better life than the one he was living right now. One where people were equal whether they lived in the Satellite or the main city of New Domino, where Satellite didn't have to live in fear of Sector Security or struggle to survive. Whether he made it happen or not, he dreamed of something better. He dreamed of a better future.

And now, in the Divine Temple, Yusei was forced to face the future, and see what truly was in store for him. He was shown a future of ruin and death and destruction. A future with almost no survivors.

That couldn't be allowed to happen.

That was the Divine Temple's purpose here, today. It was supposed to destroy New Domino. It would end thousands of lives, but it was supposed to prevent that future from happening. It would save millions.

This was the conclusion, the grand design that Iliaster had come up with after trying so hard for so long to change the future. Yusei wanted to prevent that future from happening, too. But not like this. Never like this. It wasn't that he was so arrogant that he thought he could succeed where others before him failed, but he simply couldn't accept this. He couldn't accept such a loss in the name of the greater good. There must be another way.

Yusei could feel the six Signer marks gather on his back. He could feel his friends' attention turn towards him.

"This can't be the only way. There has to be a way to change the future without sacrificing lives." Yusei turned towards his friends. "I'm sorry guys. I'm going to find a way to fix all this. I will find it, I promise."

"Yusei!!"

He ignored his friends' voices as he jumped onto his duel runner.

The Crimson Dragon had travelled through time once, taking Yusei along for the ride. After Stardust Dragon was stolen, Yusei and one other were taken back to the time of the original King of Games, where together they took down Paradox, a member of Iliaster. They'd gone back in time once. They could travel through it again. To wherever they had to go, as many times as it took, to save everyone.

One moment, as Yusei drove, he could hear his friends behind him. Then the Crimson Dragon roared, and they were all gone.


	2. Chapter 2

After Zero Reverse, it was determined that Ener-D was unsafe to use as an energy source. New Domino City was declared unsafe for human life. Whether they lived in the main city or the part that would've split to become the Satellite, all residents of the city moved. The rest of the world advanced and evolved without New Domino City.

In the timeline he knew, Yusei had grown up in the what could be considered the capital of dueling. It was where the original King of Games had lived, where KaibaCorp's main branch was based. Finding it desolate and abandoned now felt strange. Wrong, almost.

As Yusei searched around to learn where dueling was big now, Heartland City seemed to be the best answer. And when he arrived there, it made sense. In a lot of ways, Heartland City reminded Yusei of what New Domino City had been. The New Domino City he'd known, anyway. It was a different place with different people and a different energy source, but the life the city had felt so similar.

There was one very big difference between Heartland City and New Domino City, however.

Synchro Monsters were not used here.

It wasn't that they didn't exist at all. They just weren't used. Observation, research, and his own knowledge lead Yusei to the conclusion that after Zero Reverse, no one used Synchro Monsters anymore. They were associated too much with Zero Reverse, and the culture of New Domino City leading up to Zero Reverse, which now in this time went pretty much hand-in-hand. Dueling had been around so long and was embedded so strongly in many people's hearts that it would never truly vanish, but one of its mechanics went almost completely unused.

In its place, Yusei also discovered, a new type of monster had been invented, a new summoning method with it. Most duelists in Heartland City were using XYZ Monsters. He had no idea what they were or how to use them, but... Maybe they were the key to the future Yusei was working towards.

There was another key difference between Heartland City and New Domino City, too.

Heartland City didn't have its own version of the Satellite.

Yusei came across two kids dueling. School-age kids. Without having ever been in school himself, Yusei couldn’t place how far along in school they’d be, but they looked around the same age as Leo and Luna. Maybe a little older.

Kids had a pure and fierce strong passion for dueling that many adults lost as they grew up. If Yusei wanted to observe how dueling had changed here, this was his best opportunity. 

He stuck around for a moment and got to watch one of the kids perform an XYZ summon. Using a monster named Utopia, that same kid won the duel.

Yusei still wasn’t sure how the new duel mechanic worked, but this was even more evidence that it was popular here. And the winner of the duel was just excited as Leo would’ve been. It felt like a sign that Yusei could have hope.

“Oh, hey, guy!” The winning duelist waved to Yusei, as if he just noticed him. “You were watching the duel, right? Did you like it?”

Yusei froze for a second. He hadn’t really meant to be noticed, or to talk to the kids at all. But if they were going to talk to him first, then this could be a good chance to get information.

“Oh, sorry about that. It looked like a really fun duel!” Yusei replied. “But honestly, I’m still trying to figure out how XYZ Summoning works. I was trying to learn from watching the duel.”

“You’re having trouble with XYZ Summoning?” The kid looked even more triumphant at that. “See? I’m not the only one! I’m not that dumb after all!”

The comment seemed to be directed at empty air, but Yusei didn’t pay it much attention. Luna had been able to see and talk to duel spirits. Maybe this kid could, too.

“Anyway, guy, don’t feel bad about not getting it.” The kid’s attention returned to Yusei. “It took me awhile to figure it out. I can try to explain it to you, if you want? Maybe that’ll help?”

“Sure, that wpuld be a huge help,” Yusei said. “You can call me Yusei.”

“Yusei? Nice to meet ya! I’m Yuma.”

Yuma did his best to explain the mechanic to Yusei. Yuma’s friend, Bronk, joined the explanation as well to help Yuma where he needed it, and occasionally Yuma would stop for help from the invisible entity he’d addressed before as well. Yusei listened to everything they said patiently and carefully.

Honestly, it didn’t sound as complicated or intimidating as it first seemed to Yusei. There were a lot of differences from Synchro Summoning, but a few similarities. And the more he listened, the more he got it. The more it made sense. It felt like his brain had been wired not to understand it, though. Maybe it was. He was from a completely different time.

“The monster you used—Utopia, was it? It had a number associated with it, right? Are all XYZ Monsters like that?” Yusei asked.

Yuma hesitated for a second. “Numbers? No. Only some of them are like that. We’re still not completely sure what’s up with the Numbers, but I’d stay away from them if I were you. Utopia’s different, but a lot of them seem to be bad news.”

When questioned about it, Yusei framed his curiosity as having played the game some when he was younger. He was getting back into it now but still trying to figure out the aspects of the games he hadn’t been exposed to as a child.

“If you want to learn more about dueling, you should join the World Duel Carnival!” Yuma suggested.

“World Duel Carnival?” Yusei repeated.

“There’s gonna be this big tournament in Heartland, and all the best duelists are gonna be there!!” Yuma told him. “There’s no better way to learn than from watching the best and dueling against them.”

“Are you sure that’s the best idea?” Bronk didn’t look so excited about the suggestion. “If he doesn’t do well it could just be frustrating for him. He might decide to just quit completely. I wouldn’t blame you if you did, Yusei.”

“Don’t worry about me.” Yusei smiled. “I’n not someone that gives anything up easily. It sounds fun.”


End file.
